Lighting Strikes Twice
by Y2Jen
Summary: Sequal to One Cool Winters Day. Carlos escaped from jail before his death sentance, now he and his parter are out to seek revenge on the WWE superstars. But what if the hospital mess was just a cover up? What of Chris Jericho is he alive! (finished fic!)
1. Jeff's Exile

It had been about a week since Chris Jericho died in the hospital bed in New York City. Everyone was shocked and decimated about the news, but the show had to go on. The most forlorn of all of the superstars was none other than Vince McMahon. He still felt it was his fault Chris Jericho died, he had confined himself to his home in Connecticut, letting Stephanie take over. She was happy, but also sad because Chris Jericho had saved her life, and if he had never taken that bullet, she would be dead instead of him. She felt it was her fault. As for Carlos, the former WWE cameraman and World worker was admitted to a jail for the death sentence. The World had to close down due to the incident and now the company was wondering what to do with the empty, vacant lot in Times Square. But as for Carlos, he was about to get a visit from a very unexpected source.  
  
"Carlos."  
  
"Ah, if it isn't Dan, the helpful WWE superstar trainer."  
  
"Ha, ha, very funny. You know why I'm here."  
  
"Yea, hopefully to apologize you idiot! Because of your stupidity and clumsiness, I'm here to die in jail while you walk free! You're lucky I didn't turn you in, partner."  
  
"Oh shut up, I'm tired of your BS. I'm here to bust you out."  
  
"Well it's about time!"  
  
Dan, the not so helpful WWE superstar trainer, was in on it the whole time! He was Carlos's partner from the get go and not even Vince McMahon himself knew it.  
  
"So, here's the plan." Dan looked around to make sure no cop was listening in. "Your execution date is this Friday, but that day you also get your last meal. I'm going to be the one to bring it to you. As you know, all of the cops are supposed to be at the chamber getting things ready. The cell will be open for a clean getaway with no one on duty."  
  
"You know what, sometimes you can act like a real moron, and then you go and do something like this.. and totally redeem yourself! Ha, ha!"  
  
"Beautiful ain't it?"  
  
"Tis true, freedom is a beautiful thing!"  
  
The two laugh their time away, the rest of the world unknowing of what evil was about to be unleashed upon them. Meanwhile, back at the hotel in New York City, everyone was getting back from the funeral reception and getting ready for the house show in Washington D.C. But they all weren't excited, nothing was kicks and giggles, Chris Jericho was gone, and he was the one who always provided those kicks and giggles.  
  
"Wow, who can believe it? Chris is gone, he's really gone, forever." Christian sighed. "It's almost impossible, when you think about it." Rikishi agreed. Jeff Hardy was too depressed to even agree or disagree or even comment by Rikishi.  
  
"I mean, why did it have to be him, why couldn't it have been me?" Triple H asked.  
  
"Yea, why couldn't it have been him?" Shawn Michaels said, a few laughed falsely.  
  
"Hey, hey, cut it out." Edge nudged him and motioned towards Stephanie McMahon. Everyone turned to her and couldn't help but feel miserable again, out of them all she was hit the hardest and was the most upset.  
  
"He did it to save me." Steph was still in denial.  
  
"Aw, come on Steph, we can't play the blame game, it just makes it worse." Chris Benoit spoke lightly and gently to her, she was very emotionally fragile.  
  
"He's right, we can't look at the negatives, instead we should focus on the positives." Lance Storm chimed in.  
  
"Rather than mourn our loss, we should celebrate his gain." Rikishi added and everyone turned to him in shock. "What?"  
  
"Kish." Jeff Hardy approached him. "That is the wisest thing I have ever heard you say."  
  
"Thanks." Rikishi smiled a bit, blushing a little.  
  
"But I don't think I can go on anymore, not now." Jeff's smirk turned into a frown.  
  
"What? What are you talking about?" Stephanie turned to him.  
  
"This is hard for me to say, but, I have to leave."  
  
"What?" Everyone was shocked at Jeff's words.  
  
"I have to leave you all, I have to leave everyone and everything."  
  
"You're going to leave the WWE?" Steph confirmed and Jeff nodded yes.  
  
"You can't!" Rikishi cried.  
  
"Jeff, come on man, think about it, you're crazy!" Christian shook Jeff.  
  
"No, I have to, you might not understand, but just believe me when I say I have to."  
  
"If it's what you think is best." Christian let go of him and stepped aside to let him go.  
  
And with that, Jeff nodded and went into his room, packed his bags and returned to the living room. All eyes were on him, in shock, confusion and sorrow. Jeff finally managed to look his friends in the eyes.  
  
"Jeff, please, reconsider." Stephanie begged.  
  
"No I can't, I'm sorry." Jeff shook his head. He turned once again to the group. "Good by my friends." He nodded to them, opened the door and left. Now Jeff was gone too.  
  
"I can't believe it, first Chris and now Jeff?" Edge was still very decimated.  
  
"This is all just too much to take!" Rikishi yelled.  
  
"Guys, guys, maybe the best thing for us to do is just to get some rest. We've all had a very hectic few weeks." Steph stood up.  
  
"She's right. Besides, we still have work to do." Triple H agreed.  
  
Everyone nodded and went to their rooms. They had to drudge through the halls and drone down the stairs and pull along for the next few days. They weren't too lively, until a certain something happened on that Friday night..  
  
"Convicted killer Carlos Carlson has escaped from prison." The news reporter said.  
  
"What?" Everyone turned to the TV.  
  
"Turn it up!" Steph cried and Rikishi did just that.  
  
It was late, about 10 o' clock at night. It was dark in the room and the eerie light of the TV screen lit up everyone's face as they gathered and crowded around the TV set. The expressions on their faces were all the same, shocked.  
  
"We have no idea how he escaped, penetration of the jail is impossible." A cop was saying. "This may have been an inside job, it may have been an outside job. We don't know yet but you can believe me when I say we'll find him and carry the sentence out."  
  
"We'll have more on that news when information becomes available. In weather tonight, we'll be expecting thunderstorms in the next few weeks with cold temperatures higher than those of the last couple of weeks." The news reporter went on after the story broke.  
  
"What the hell?!?" Triple H turned off the TV and stood up. Stephanie turned on a light. "That bastered escaped jail? He deserves to die for what he did to Chris!"  
  
"Hunter, calm down." Shawn tried to calm his friend's nerves, but to be honest, his were just as raging as Triple H's.  
  
"This is an outrage, an injustice upon mankind!" Christian yelled.  
  
"That stupid prison, why couldn't they just kill him on the spot?" Edge growled.  
  
"The judicial system can be so unfair and stupid sometimes." Stephanie sighed angrily.  
  
"You know what? I won't stand for this, I won't take this laying down." Lance stood up.  
  
"But what can we do about it?" Rikishi asked.  
  
"What we did last time for Chris, find him." Benoit stood next to Lance.  
  
"Go after Carlos again? I hate to be a wet blanket, but, it's gonna be like tracking a needle in a haystack. At least last time we had a bunch of leads and we had a better chance of finding him since he was still in the city, you know?" Stephanie sighed sadly.  
  
"So you're gonna give up just like that? Did Chris give up when he was near death lying on the floor? No, he stopped Carlos from killing us. And what else did he do? He fought Carlos, and look at Chris now, he's dead. Well I won't let him die in vain! Are you with me?" Benoit stuck out his hand.  
  
"I'm in." Lance stuck in his hand.  
  
"Me too." Edge and Christian chimed in unison.  
  
"You can count on me." Triple H did the same.  
  
"And me." Shawn followed his friend's lead.  
  
"Don't forget me." Rikishi put his hand in.  
  
"Hey guys?" A voice made everyone turn to the door. Hulk Hogan. "You didn't forget about me now did ya?" They smiled as he walked in and placed his hand on theirs.  
  
"You guys don't have to worry, I'm with you 100%." Stephanie was the last to stick her hand in the pile. She looked up at them. "For Chris."  
  
"For Chris!" They all raised their hands in the air.  
  
"Hey guys?" Hogan looked around, they turned to him. "Where's that one guy, Dan?"  
  
Everyone looked around, where was Dan? Suddenly a bolt of thunder echoed throughout the night, causing the whole group to gasp and freeze in the dark room as all the lights flickered dimly. They all watched quietly as Stephanie walked over to the window and looked outside, it was raining. 


	2. The Plot's Revealed

The rain was cold and pelting, everything was drenched and soaked in this city of.. wait, this isn't Washington D.C., it's New York City! The superstars were all still on the east coast, getting ready for another house show, this time in Atlantic City.  
  
"Oh my head." A man's voice groaned. He opened his eyes, finding himself on the wet pavement, looking strait up into the dark storm clouds in the sky. He squinted as the rain hit his face. The man sat up, weak and dizzy. "What happened?"  
  
He looked around the gray city, trying desperately to remember how he got here and better yet why he was here. Was it a hangover, did he go to a party and end up sprawled in this back alley? Was he mugged and got hit on the back of the head? He walked out into the street as a taxi sped by, shooting a blast of dirty water up into his face. He coughed hard and began to shiver.  
  
"Oh my god!" A person walking on the street approached the shaggy man. "Aren't you." She stopped herself and sighed, wrapping her jacket around herself. "No, I'm sorry, you couldn't be." The lady began to walk off down the road.  
  
"Hey, hey, wait!" The man called and the woman turned back around to him. "What, do you know me?"  
  
"It's my fault, I thought you were somebody else."  
  
"Who? Tell me, please, tell me who do you think I am?"  
  
"Well," The lady blushed. "This might sound silly, but I thought you were that one wrestler guy, Chris Jericho." She laughed slightly. "Crazy hu? That guy's dead." The man was frozen at what he'd just heard. "Oh I'm sorry. I really have to go." The woman turned back around and continued on her way down the road.  
  
"Chris Jericho?" The man stood in the middle of the sidewalk in Times Square. He closed his eyes, something was coming back to him. "I remember now." He opened his eyes and understood everything perfectly clear now:  
  
The hospital was quiet, everyone had already left after hearing the horrible news. The doctor came back into the room and stood over the man, his expression was unreadable and odd. He smiled as he grabbed a needle and stuck it deep into the drugged, unconscious patient's arm. The vision blurred and blacked out. His sight was all white but now voices were heard.  
  
"It's done then?" One asked.  
  
"Yes." This person sounded like the doctor. "It is finished."  
  
"Good."  
  
"Dan look, is this really necessary?"  
  
"Hey listen, you did your part and you're just as guilty as I am. Don't make me turn you in."  
  
"I, I'm sorry. It's just that.."  
  
"You know what? For a doctor, you think and talk way too much."  
  
"I apologize, sir."  
  
"That's much better. Now get this guy outa here, that stuff should've already fully kicked in."  
  
"But what do I do with him?"  
  
"What do I look like to you, the humane society, secret service? Just throw him in a dumpster or something for all I care, but just get him away from the hospital."  
  
"As you wish."  
  
Then the voices went silent and the white vision grew bright before the man opened his eyes and realized that he was back in the city streets. As it turns out, the shot fired at Chris wasn't lethal, the doctor was able to remove the bullet that hadn't hit him in the heart after all. They'd only faked his death so that Carlos would be able to fulfill his revenge against Stephanie and the superstars. The rain was still pouring down, thunder booming far off as people ran towards taxicabs with newspapers over their heads. The man looked down at his hands and then walked over to a window, looking at his mangled, drenched reflection. This seemed all so familiar to him, the rain on him, the reflection in the window, the car splashing water on him.  
  
"Was that real?" He looked up at the building, it was the foreclosed World. He looked back at his reflection and sneezed. "It's true, she was right.. I am Chris Jericho!" The man smiled, he remembered it all now. But his smile turned into an angry frown as he growled deep from in his throat. "Carlos." He turned around angrily and began to stomp down the road but stopped. "Wait! Where is everyone? How long as has it been?" He looked around frantically until he saw a man. "Excuse me sir!" He ran over to the person who stopped to turn around. "Do you know what the date is today?"  
  
"Why yes." The man looked at his watch. "It's Tuesday the first."  
  
"Thank you." Chris nodded and the man got into his car. He sighed. "Oh my god, it's been days since I had supposedly died, everyone's gone!" He began to think frantically, he had nothing but the cloths he was wearing. All of his things were probably at his home if not traveling around with the superstars, wherever they were now. "Oh no, what do I do now." Chris tried to calm down, breathing carefully to not stress himself out. "Ok, think. Where would they be today?" He counted on his fingers. "Let's see, New York, Washington D.C., Atlantic City! They're in Jersey!" He dug into his pocket, finding something. "Yes." He sighed with relief and pulled out his wallet. He ran to the bus station and paid for a ticket to Atlantic City. He got on the bus and sat down in the front.  
  
The bus had the news on radio: "We believe that Carlos is out of New York and could be anywhere from Connecticut to New Jersey. But we advise everyone to be careful."  
  
"Oh my god." Chris began to feel sick. "Carlos is out?" He breathed quickly.  
  
"Hey man, are you ok?" The bus driver asked in concern.  
  
"Hu?" Chris turned to him. "Yea, yea." He cleared his throat and tried to remain calm. "Don't worry guys, I'm coming." He said in his mind. "He's got to be after them, he's got to be in Jersey. You just you wait Carlos, we aren't finished yet." He scowled.  
  
Meanwhile, in Atlantic City.  
  
"Dan, I just don't think I can move on." Stephanie McMahon was in her hotel room with the other superstars when Dan had come by to see how they were doing.  
  
"It's ok Steph, denial on death is hard to forget. But I wouldn't worry, Chris isn't dead if he's with us in spirit." Dan smiled comforting.  
  
"Oh, thank you Dan." Stephanie hugged him, Dan patted her back.  
  
"Well I have to go Steph, but you take care and I'll see you at the arena." Dan stood up.  
  
"Ok. You know Dan, I'm really sorry about this whole hotel mix up."  
  
"Nah it's ok."  
  
"No really, it's not fair that we're all in the same one but you're half a mile down the road."  
  
"It's ok Steph, don't you worry you're little head over it." Dan patted her head gently before leaving.  
  
He smiled to himself, they were all such fools, stupid, gullible fools. Carlos wasn't in the superstar's hotel, but he was just a few blocks away in the hotel with Dan. It was all part of their master plan, it had nothing to do with Stephanie's mix up. He was going to get away with this easier than taking candy away from a baby. Dan's cell phone rang.  
  
"Dan, it's me. Is everything going according to plan?"  
  
"Yes, the trap is ready and the bait is set."  
  
"Good." It was Carlos. "This game is so much fun, it's a pity it'll all have to end when they all end up dead." Carlos laughed evilly. Dan began to laugh too. "Hey stop that, only I can do the evil sinister laugh." Carlos snapped but his phone beeped. "Oh hang on, I've got call waiting." He pushed a button. "Hello?"  
  
"Still me."  
  
"Ok, sorry." He pushed another button. "Hello?"  
  
"Yes?" Dan asked in a girly voice but then laughed. "No I'm just kidding, it's me." Carlos growled and hung up. Dan hung up and looked at his cell phone but just shrugged as continued walking off. 


	3. Dan's Discovery

The rain had lightened up since Chris had arrived in Atlantic City, the forecast was over heard on the radio news: Light showers for the inland communities with scattered storms in the coastal regions, temperatures still range in the 50's and under.  
  
"Fourth stop, Atlantic City." The bus driver announced and Chris looked up from his daze. As he stepped off the bus, the diver called to him. "Hey son, you'd better get a coat and umbrella, it's only gonna get worse before it gets better."  
  
"Thanks." Chris nodded and smiled up at the man as he closed the doors and drove away. Chris looked around the town, it was just sprinkling as it was only 8 in the morning. He began to think, he didn't know where he was, how would he find the arena? Finally he approached one of the other people who'd gotten off his bus. "Excuse me." The young man and woman turned around. "Do you by chance know where the arena is?"  
  
"Yes, as a matter of fact we do." The man smiled.  
  
"We're going there ourselves, why don't you join us?" The woman, obviously the man's girlfriend, flirted up next to Chris.  
  
"Well," Chris noticed the rising tension from the man. "I don't want to be a bother.."  
  
"Oh no bother at all, right honey?" The woman giggled, causing her boyfriend to snap out of his angry glare.  
  
"Hm? Oh yea, why not."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
Chris smirked, he was beginning to have second thoughts about his idea. As the girl waved down a taxi, Chris couldn't help but be very nervous, he could feel the man's eyes piercing him on the back of his neck. The three of them rode in the cab with the woman in the middle, but Chris could still see the angry stares from the man across the way.  
  
"So, what's your name?" The lady decided to break the tension.  
  
"I'm Chris."  
  
"My name's Lisa."  
  
"And I'm her boyfriend, Keith." He cut in sharply, emphasizing on the words 'her boyfriend' very much. Chris chose wisely to remain quiet for the rest of the ride. Eventually they arrived at the arena. "Lisa, I'm gonna check us into the hotel, why don't you come with me?"  
  
"I dunno, why don't you go and I'll hang out Chris?"  
  
Chris gulped and looked up over at Keith who returned an angry leer. "No I have personal business I have to tend to, please excuse me." Chris made his exit fast.  
  
"By Chris." Lisa waved until her boyfriend pulled her away by her arm.  
  
Chris walked towards the arena hastily, eager to get to his friend but also to get rid of the couple as fast as he could. Luckily, due to the weather, nobody was outside at the arena so Chris didn't have to worry about a barrage of fans bombarding him. As he walked into the carport he was stopped by security.  
  
"Stop. Name please?"  
  
"Oh I'm Chris."  
  
The man looked on his list, scaling up and down with his finger. "There are many Chris's on here, last name please."  
  
"Oh, Jericho."  
  
"Jericho. Jericho, nope sorry, not on here."  
  
"What?" Chris stopped himself and remembered, everyone still thought he was dead. He began to think. "Hmm, that list must be wrong. but maybe it's under my new last name."  
  
"New last name hu? Well, what is it?"  
  
"My name is.." Chris smirked. "Benoit, I'm Chris Benoit."  
  
The man looked down at his list for only a few seconds before speaking back up. "Ah Benoit, here it is. Heh, go right on in, and I'm sorry about the mix up."  
  
"No prob." Chris smiled as he made his way into the arena and chuckled to himself. "Just wait till everyone sees me, I can't wait to see the expressions on their faces. This is gonna be so great!"  
  
Chris walked down the halls of the arena, nobody was there yet which was odd. Usually everyone arrived hours earlier to prepare for their matches, warm up or eat, but the arena was practically empty. As he walked, some arena workers were moving about. He made his way to the gorilla position, everything was already ready, the ring and lights were all set up for the show, but not a familiar face was to be seen, until.  
  
"Chris?!?" The voice made him turn, and there stood an ultimately shocked Dan.  
  
"Hey Dan." Chris waved slightly, seeing his expression made him change his mind about scaring his friends, Dan looked like he'd seen a ghost and was about to drop dead, and Chris wasn't about ready to scare his friends anymore than he already had. "How's it going?"  
  
"Oh my god.." Dan shivered.  
  
"Don't be afraid." Chris spoke quietly and gently. "It's ok, I'm not a ghost, I'm alive."  
  
"But, but how?" Dan stammered. He was dead meat and Chris only thought he was petrified to see him alive because he thought he'd died. "You're dead!"  
  
"No, I survived." Chris still had no idea Dan was in on the whole thing. "Weird hu?"  
  
"Chris." Dan stopped and changed his plans in his head, he couldn't reveal to Chris that he was in on the whole scam. Chris was supposed to die, how could he have lived? Dan began to growl. "Dam that doctor."  
  
"Hey I hear ya." Chris grinned and Dan looked up. "I bet he decimated you all when he told you I was dead, but close call hu? I guess that just goes to show that this cat truly does have nine lives." Chris began to laugh.  
  
"Chris." Dan cleared his throat and Chris stopped laughing. He decided it was better to keep playing in on the charade that he was his friend. "Everyone thinks your dead, the world has moved on as if you hadn't existed. This could really cause an imbalance."  
  
"Hu? Dan what are you talking about?"  
  
"I'm not sure it's a good idea to tell everyone that you're alive."  
  
"What! Are you crazy, why not?"  
  
"Not just yet that is, they still need more time to recover. You understand, don't you?"  
  
"Well sure, I guess, but.."  
  
"Chris, lay low and stick with me. Together we can help you get through this, we can help everyone. Got it?"  
  
"Yea, I think." Chris was reluctant, but he did understand what Dan was saying.  
  
"Good, now come on, we have to get you out of sight before the others arrive." Dan pushed Chris into the trainer room and began to think to himself. "Darn Chris, how did he manage to live through the doctors procedures? Now I realize what Carlos was up with and how frustrated Mr. McMahon got. Dam, we sure could use a mastermind like him on our side right now..." Dan began to think. "Wait, Carlos doesn't know what Chris is alive, only I do! Maybe I can cover this up, maybe I can tie up this loose end. Chris still might have the drug injections inside him, if I give him over the lethal dose, he's sure to parish this time." Dan began to laugh to himself and unknowingly spoke aloud. "Oh if only he could see me now, what a promotion I'd get!"  
  
"Uh, Dan? Who are you talking to?" Chris stared at his companion, cockeyed.  
  
"Oh!" Dan gulped and turned around. "I was just talking about, um, Vince. Yea, that's it! If only he could see me now, you and me, you alive and well, he'd be so happy."  
  
"Yea, he would be." Chris smiled but sighed.  
  
He still remembered how Vince looked the last time he saw him in the hospital. He wished he could tell everyone he was ok, but he had to listen to Dan, after all, he was the one who knew best. Chris sat down in the trainers room and Dan began to put his idea into motion.  
  
"Now listen Chris." Dan's voice made Chris look up suddenly. "I really hate to say this, but I'm going to have to give you a shot."  
  
"WHAT!" Chris nearly leaped up onto the ceiling.  
  
"Calm down, I know that you're afraid of needles, but this is a dire necessity."  
  
"Oh? And why's that!" Chris was speaking very loudly.  
  
"Sh, just listen. You nearly died, you have a lot of, uh, bad stuff inside you that we need to get out, or else you could really die this time. Understand?"  
  
"No!"  
  
"Chris, please! I know what's best and you know that!" Dan was growing impatient.  
  
"Yea, but."  
  
"I really don't want to do this to you, you know that, but it's a matter of life and death here. I promise you, I swear upon it on my family name that you will never, ever in the rest of your entire life, be given a shot again."  
  
"Well ok." Chris was reluctant and spoke very hesitantly. "If you promise."  
  
"Oh, I do."  
  
Dan smiled to himself, to be honest, he was telling the truth after all. If Dan gave him the lethal injection, Chris would die and really would never receive another shot again in his entire life. This was perfect, Chris was about to be killed, and he didn't even know it! 


	4. Chris's Comeback

Dan was busy getting the injection ready as Chris walked around impatiently. "Will you please stop doing that?" Dan asked. "It's making me really nervous."  
  
"You're nervous!" Chris sputtered. "I'm the one who has to get a shot!"  
  
"Sh, please keep it down." Dan looked at his watch. "They'll be here anytime now." Dan lifted the needle away from the jar and tapped it. "There, all done."  
  
"So that means I can go now?" Chris began to slowly get off the table.  
  
"No!" Dan made his way over towards him. "Now hold still and this wont hurt a bit."  
  
"Ah!"  
  
"Hu?" Dan and Chris turned to the sound of the scream, which hadn't come from Chris due to the fact that Dan hadn't even stuck the needle in his arm yet. The two gasped at who they saw.  
  
"Stephanie McMahon!"  
  
"Wha.." She was frozen in shock, even more surprised to see Chris than Chris was to see her. "Chris, is that you?"  
  
"Uh, hi." Chris waved meekly.  
  
"Oh my god, you're alive?!?" Stephanie ran over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, sobbing bitterly. "I'm so sorry Chris."  
  
"Hey, hey, it's ok." Chris put his arms around her for comfort.  
  
"But how?" Stephanie looked him in the face. "How did you manage to survive?"  
  
"To be honest, I have no idea. I guess the shot wasn't a lethal blow."  
  
"But then why did the doctor."  
  
"I dunno, they're evil!"  
  
"Oh Chris." Stephanie laughed and rubbed the tears off her face. "It really is you."  
  
"Yup." Chris's smile beamed, but in the corner Dan was extremely pissed.  
  
"Come on, we have to go tell the others!" Stephanie pulled Chris out the door.  
  
"But." Dan stammered and then growled, he was dead meat now.  
  
"Everyone, everyone, come quick!" Stephanie yelled as she ran down the hall. Everyone was in the parking lot talking when they heard her voice and turned. They all gasped.  
  
"Chris?" Hulk Hogan's jaw dropped.  
  
"Alive!" Lance Storm was too shocked to move.  
  
"Impossible." Rikishi shook his head, confused.  
  
"I know, it's mind boggling isn't it?" Chris smirked.  
  
"But how?" Christian asked, still surprised.  
  
"I guess the shot Carlos fired at him just narrowly missed his heart." Stephanie explained.  
  
"Wow, that doctor must not be all that smart if he called Chris dead when he really wasn't." Edge laughed to himself.  
  
"Man, are you alright?" Shawn Michaels approached Chris slowly.  
  
"Yea, I guess so."  
  
"You're one lucky guy, you get a second chance on life." Triple H replied.  
  
"I know.." Chris looked around. "Hey, where's Benoit?"  
  
"I dunno, he must be having trouble with security or something." Steph shrugged.  
  
"Uh oh, whoops." Chris blushed to himself.  
  
"I told you, my name is Chris Benoit!" He was saying for the hundredth time.  
  
"But somebody named Chris Benoit has already arrived." The guard replied.  
  
"But I'm Chris Benoit!"  
  
"How can I be sure that you're not an imposter?"  
  
"The other guy's the imposter!"  
  
"You can just let him in, he's with us." Stephanie called.  
  
"Alright. Sorry about this sir." The guard let Chris pass.  
  
"Yea right.." Benoit muttered to himself as he walked into the underground lot. He made he way over to them and when he looked up he gasped.  
  
"Hi." Chris Jericho smiled over at his best friend.  
  
"What the hell.. Chris?" Benoit was stopped in his tracks.  
  
"Yup, it's me." Chris laughed.  
  
"You son of a.!" Benoit tackled him. "It was you who impersonated me with the security guard wasn't it!" Everyone laughed as Benoit held Chris by the collar.  
  
"Wow this is so great, you're alive after all." Stephanie smiled over at Chris. He looked over at her and smiled back. "Chris, I. I just want to say that I'm sorry. You could've been killed if not for me." Chris frowned as Stephanie spoke.  
  
"But I'm not dead, it's all ok." Chris hugged her for comfort.  
  
"Hey, if you're really alive after all, we need to tell Vince!" She gasped.  
  
"Well where is he?" Chris looked around and Stephanie sighed.  
  
"He's confined himself to his home back in Connecticut, nobody's seen or heard from him since we thought you died. Not even my mom and brother can get through to him."  
  
"Oh my gosh, wow." Chris felt horrible, he'd caused so much pain and felt bad about it.  
  
"Ahem?" The sudden sound made everyone turn.  
  
"Dan."  
  
"Have you forgotten that Carlos is on the loose?"  
  
"That's right." Chris growled from deep in his throat.  
  
"Chris no." Stephanie said sternly.  
  
"He's out to get you guys, but he's really after me. This is all about revenge and I have to do this alone, I can't jeopardize you all again, this is my fight and I have to do it alone."  
  
"But Chris." Stephanie stopped when Chris's eyes met her. She reluctantly nodded.  
  
"He's here in Atlantic City, I know it." Chris began to pace, thinking. "How do I find him?"  
  
"Perhaps I can be of some assistance?" Dan stepped forward, everyone turned to him. "I think I know where he might be hiding." Everyone had gone into the cafeteria so they could all plan out their attack. "While I was in the other hotel, there was some pretty shady business going on in there."  
  
"Shady business?" Rikishi asked as he ate.  
  
"What do you mean?" Chris was listening carefully.  
  
"I can't say, but I think it had to do with Carlos."  
  
"I'll go for it." Chris stood up.  
  
"But Chris, how can you be sure it's really him? You can get mixed up with something else." Stephanie held his arm.  
  
"We need to go with any leads we can get, Steph. Don't you worry." Chris turned to Dan. "Come on Dan, let's go." Everyone looked up at them. "I need you to come with me, you're the only guy I've got who can help and I need all the help I can take."  
  
"I understand." Dan nodded.  
  
Everyone watched as the two left. Stephanie sighed, she felt a horrible feeling rising in her stomach. Dan and Chris walked outside and began to make their way to the hotel. The sky was dark and rumbling, the storm was about ready to begin. 


	5. Carlos Confrontation

Dan had no idea how he'd break the news to Carlos, how could he just walk in with Chris, his mortal nemesis? He had to kill him somehow, it was the only way to cover it up. Dan growled to himself, if only he'd given him the injection a few seconds sooner, then Stephanie wouldn't have ruined his masterful plan.  
  
"Hey Dan?" Dan turned at Chris's voice. "You ok, you seem kinda quiet lately."  
  
"Just thinking, that's all." Dan forced a convincing smile. Chris turned away and Dan rolled his eyes, he felt sick to his stomach trying to be Chris's friend. "Come on Chris, this is the hotel."  
  
"Good." Chris lowered his voice, growling angrily.  
  
"Now be careful, we don't want to raise suspicion." Dan led Chris inside.  
  
Meanwhile, back at the arena.  
  
"Dam, he's still not answering his cell phone." Stephanie threw her phone onto the cafeteria table, it slid over in Triple H's direction.  
  
"Don't worry Steph, we'll contact your dad somehow." He began to think. "What if you leave a message on his phone, he's bound to hear it sometime."  
  
"That's not the point Hunter, I think something could be wrong."  
  
"Wrong, like what?"  
  
"I don't know, I just don't like this." Steph could just feel that something was wrong.  
  
"Here, I'll call your house." Triple H used Stephanie's cell phone to call the McMahon estate. "You never know, maybe your mom or brother can be of help." Everyone waited but there was no answer and the message system never kicked in. Hunter hung up.  
  
"We should go help Chris." Stephanie stood up.  
  
"No, you sit back down." Shawn Michaels put his hands on her shoulders. "We have to get in contact with your family first." He turned to his best friend. "Trips, try calling Shane or Linda's cell phone, we have to tell Vince that Chris is alive."  
  
"Right." Triple H went back to work with Steph's cell phone. They all waited.  
  
"Oh I hate playing the waiting game. let's play hungry-hungry hippos!" Rikishi cried and they all gave him a look. "What, what I say this time?"  
  
Elsewhere, in the hotel.  
  
"Chris, we should wait in our room for a while." Dan suggested in the elevator.  
  
"Good idea." Chris nodded in agreement.  
  
They got out of the elevator and walked down the empty hall in the hotel. There was a room service janitor's cart in the hall by Dan's door. The two went inside the room and sat down on the bed. Chris immediately, by instinct, grabbed the remote and turned off the TV. Dan realized this was his chance.  
  
"Could you excuse me for a moment, I have to make a phone call." Dan walked out into the hall with his cell phone, looked around, and then called Carlos. "I've got a problem."  
  
"What is it now?" Carlos growled, relaxing in his hotel room on a big recliner.  
  
"I don't know how to tell you this, but.. Chris is, alive."  
  
"WHAT!?!" Dan pulled the phone away from his ear, it seemed to shake as Carlos spat at him. "How could you have failed me again? Come on, how hard is it to kill this guy!"  
  
"Don't worry, he's in the room here in the hotel."  
  
"Pardon?" Carlos hesitated, growing calmer for a moment.  
  
"This time we've got him for sure, but we need a really good plan."  
  
"I agree. If he tangled out of our webs last time, we need to cut his life supply short."  
  
"Well we've got eight more lives to go, boss."  
  
"Oh shut up." Carlos hung up, Dan stared at his cell phone.  
  
"So does this mean we have a plan?" He walked back into the room to find Chris surfing through the channels.  
  
"Man I've said it before and I'll say it again, daytime TV sucks." Chris turned it off.  
  
"Chris, we should look around for a while, see what we can see, you know?"  
  
"Right, good idea." Chris nodded and got up. When they got outside, Dan hatched a plan.  
  
"The hotel has four stories. We scanned the first one coming in, this floor is clear, why don't I check the second floor and you check the fourth?"  
  
"Sounds good to me. We'll meet up back here." Chris headed towards the elevator.  
  
"Oh no Chris," Dan snickered as he headed for the stairs. "We won't."  
  
Later that day.  
  
"Ok, I was able to get in contact with Shane and Linda, they're going over to the McMahon estate as we speak." Triple H announced.  
  
"Great, that's really good news." HBK complimented his friend.  
  
"I hope dad's is ok, he took the death of Chris really hard." Steph sighed.  
  
"I wouldn't worry, Viney Mac is one tough dude." Hulk Hogan replied.  
  
Lance Storm, Chris Benoit, Edge and Christian were quiet. Jericho was a fellow Canadian and their best friend. They nearly lost him last time, they didn't want to loose him again, and this time forever.  
  
"Guys please stop moping around." Rikishi rolled one of the white marbles on the table.  
  
"Hey, speak for yourself kish." Lance groaned.  
  
"Come on, let's not take out our frustration on each other." Benoit decided to jump in.  
  
"Yea, he's right." Edge agreed.  
  
"Let's just wait for Shane and Linda to call us back. That's all we can do is wait." Christian shrugged and everyone nodded sadly, they had to admit that he was right.  
  
That night..  
  
The show at the arena had begun, the matches were going on but everyone was focused on Chris. The crowd could understand they still missed him, but what the rest of the world didn't know was that Chris was actually still alive, or at least for now.  
  
"Come out here you coward." Chris growled deeply and angrily as he looked around the fourth floor.  
  
It was a set up. Carlos was roomed on the fourth floor and Dan had snuck up the stairs into his room in order to plot out the attack on Chris with Carlos. The storm had brewed over time and it was raining now, thunder and lightning occurred often. The setting seemed to add to Chris's mood. He was surging with the energy of a storm, it was the perfect backdrop for Carlos's downfall. Chris finally came to the last door, it was open a jar and was dark inside. Chris inched forward to peek in and get a listen. He gasped and jerked slightly when he heard strange sounds coming from inside. So he pushed the door open with his hand and slowly, cautiously crept in like a cat. As he made his way into the dark room, lightning flashed and thunder boomed. Chris gasped as the door swung closed. He whirled around and could vaugly distinct two figures from the lightning.  
  
"Welcome Chris, it's about time." The familiar voice laughed.  
  
Chris's eyes grew angry and wide as he recognized the person. He growled viciously, "Carlos." He got in an attack pose, ready to fight.  
  
"So we meet again Chris." The second figure stepped into the light by the window. Chris gasped, taken with the most horrible shock and surprise. "Better late than never."  
  
"Dan?" Chris's voice squeaked in utter disbelief. "Wh-why?" He stuttered sadly.  
  
"I have my reasons." Dan laughed as both he and Carlos pulled out a gun. Chris gasped, forgetting all about attacking his foes, and backed up.  
  
"And now Chris," Carlos cocked the gun as Dan set his trigger. "You die."  
  
They both fired but Chris ducked and it shattered the window. In the hotel, screams ran out as peopled began to run around. Everyone was told to run outside as somebody called the cops on a payphone. Once outside, they all looked up to the top fourth floor to see a man climbing out onto the roof with two other men at his heels.  
  
"You can't win this time." Dan sneered as Chris began to back up.  
  
"There's nowhere to run, nowhere to hide." Carlos pointed the gun at him. "But I'm a man of my honor and you've proved to be quite the worthy opponent. Any last words, requests?"  
  
Chris began to shiver in fear and from the cold rain. He looked up as thunder rumbled across the sky. As he stared upwards, he noticed the cable antenna on the roof. A lightning bolt in the sky lit it up, nearly hitting it. Chris got an idea.  
  
"Well, hurry up." Dan growled, growing impatient from their mortal adversary.  
  
"Come here and face me like a man." Chris said viciously, Carlos slowly stepped forward with a smirk on his face, still aiming at Chris. Chris turned so that Carlos would be standing in front of the antenna. "I want to see you die. I want to see you pay and burn in hell for what you did!" Chris growled. "You escaped jail, you were to be electrocuted for trying to kill me, which you failed at. That's it Carlos, you failed, and now you will receive your judgment."  
  
"Oh really?" Carlos was getting a kick out of this speech. "I'd like to see justice try."  
  
Another thunder roared and a lightning bolt shot down from the sky onto the antenna and Carlos. Dan gasped as he saw his boss light up and singe. Chris stared at him with the same angry face as he did before. Carlos screamed as he felt the death of the electric chair surge through him. Finally the bolt's electricity subsided, as did Carlos's life.  
  
"Burn in hell, you received your execution on a Friday night. Justice has been served." Chris turned around and saw Dan. "You."  
  
"Now Chris, please, I beg of you." Dan dropped his gun and backed up.  
  
"You traitor, you don't deserve to live." Chris began to advance towards him.  
  
"But you can't kill me." Dan backed up. "Please? I wanted nothing to do with this, I swear it. No!"  
  
Dan backed up too far and tripped right over the ledge, falling four stories down off the hotel and to his grave. Chris walked over and looked down, the crowd had circled around Dan's still, lifeless body. Finally, and it's been a long time, Chris smiled.  
  
"It's over." Chris smiled to himself with a nod. "Looks like lightning can strike twice."  
  
That night on the news, Carlos's death was on every major station nationwide. At the McMahon estate, Linda, Shane and Vince were watching the report on TV. Vince seemed to come back to life as he heard that Chris was alive and that Carlos was dead. Linda and Shane called Stephanie to tell them the news. It was right after the show ended. Everyone began to root and cheer in the back room. When Chris arrived, he was brought in a cop car for protection.  
  
"Chris!"  
  
"Stephanie!"  
  
The two ran over to each other and embraced. Everyone gathered around Chris and began to cheer, giving him a group hug as they celebrated their victory. Triple H walked over with the cell phone in his hand.  
  
"Way to go Chris. I just want you to know that Vince is back up to speed and better than ever. He literally kicked his heels when he saw the report on TV."  
  
"That's so great, I'm glad everything's finally back to normal." Chris smiled.  
  
"Wow, what a trip." Shawn Michaels laughed.  
  
"Yea, wait till everyone hears about this." Chris Benoit patted Jericho on the back.  
  
"I can't wait to see what the fans will say when I walk out first thing on Raw next Monday." Jericho said.  
  
"Yea." Stephanie smiled, relieved that everything was back to normal. Chris was alive and justice had been served to Carlos and Dan. She hugged Chris. "I can't wait either." 


End file.
